Following my Heart in lieu of mainstream society

On The Receiving End

I love what Luke 6:38 says (CJB), “Give, and you will receive gifts —the full measure, compacted, shaken together and overflowing, will be put right in your lap. For the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure back to you!”

We all want to receive, some more than others. We all know people who always seem to have their hand out, lol. Then, there are those of us who, present company included, aren’t so good at being on the receiving end of a blessing. When it comes to gifts, some of us are good at dishing them out, but we aren’t so good with taking it in. We see a verse like Luke 6:38 and praise God alongside our brothers and sisters, but when the Lord sends someone to bless us, we shy away and do our best to decline their efforts. This is silly.

The King James version of this verse is a bit different, it actually says “shall men give into your bosom”. Let’s take a look at it. “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

So, God tells me to bless this one, and in turn, He sends someone my way to bless me, and what do I do? I do my best to turn them away. Prideful much? Barring the Almighty literally dropping things into your lap from the heavens above, (and He can do that if He so chooses) we have to consider that He just might use men to repay us. Those of us who aren’t so comfortable with this, need to learn to get comfortable, because God seems to really enjoy using people to bless people. It’s kinda His thing, I think.

We had a very ridiculous situation happen recently, where our electric company, with whom we have a substantial credit balance, cut our electricity off. We had to have some work done but the process was lengthy to say the least. A permit had to be pulled from the city before the work could be done. Then, inspections had to be done by both the city and the electric company and more. Seventeen days later, our power was restored. No, that wasn’t a typo, 17 days with no power. It was either too hot or too cold to stay in our home. We have no family here and because we are a family of 7, off to hotels, we went. My mother helped us with 5 nights in hotels, and then we ended up traveling out of state to her home for the last 4 nights. All in all, it was very costly.

Upon returning, we had to throw out everything. A massive cleaning, not to mention deodorizing had to take place as things were quite moldy in our fridge. It was just, a mess. Then, we had to start over from scratch.

You know how you have people in your life who say, “Please let me know if you need anything…” and you just smile, nod, and say, “Ok.”? I called on each, asking, (super uncomfortably, I might add) if they would help us with groceries.

We need to restock badly, and with 7 people, it’s no small feat, believe me. The help we have gotten and are still getting is nothing short of amazing. When people say they want to help, let them. Don’t rob people of the blessing they will receive when they help you.

Again, I’m not talking about people who always have their hand out, always on the receiving end and rarely on the giving end. I’m talking about the ones who seriously struggle with allowing people to bless them with things, even when they are truly in need. This is a heart issue that I dare say, will continue to be an issue until it is properly addressed with the help of our Heavenly Father.

The Lord wants to give us good gifts. He is a good Father. He wants to bless us more than we want to be blessed, and He often will use people to do it. Plus, let’s get real, if He sent some enormous angel with a basket of money or whatever, most of us would freak out completely. He knows that. Also, God is such a serial blesser. (Shhh, I know that’s not a real word.) He is so good at blessing everyone involved and passing it on exponentially. We can never out give Him. It’s impossible. So the take home this week for those of us who struggle with receiving is, get it together! You love blessing others, let somebody do something for you sometime! You’d be surprised to see how many would jump at the opportunity to bless you. And those on the other side, the ones who always have that hand open to receive, get yourself set to give! It’s the best side! 😉